The city of Alexandria, Virginia had a paratransit system that worked well—but they knew it could be better. How exactly? They weren’t sure, but knew that there was a lot to learn from hundreds of thousands of trip data records they technically had access to from a vendor, but didn’t know how to take advantage of. They wondered if there wasn’t an opportunity to utilize the latest data and mapping technologies to analyze this data and uncover insights that could help make the paratransit program work better and more efficiently for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. To that end, as Alexandria DOT began the process of drafting an RFP for engaging a new vendor to operate the paratransit service, they decided they first needed to better understand how their current system was operating and what gaps, opportunities, and information could be uncovered through analysis to inform the procurement and vendor evaluation—and ultimately ensure the best results for residents.

At the time of the analysis, Alexandria’s DOT Paratransit program required 24 hour advanced call-in reservations for rides. The program served a variety of resident populations traveling to and from a variety of locations at various times of day, though Alexandria had not analyzed the data to fully understand exactly who, exactly where, or exactly when. The program was operating as a city-run dispatching service through client calls to City customer service representatives. This ensured accessibility to all residents, as some clients do not own or know how to use a smartphone, or may not have immediately-available internet access. Subsequently, a local taxi company was hired to pick up and drive an individual client to their destination. Drivers received some additional training to work with the client populations served, and ADA accessible vehicles were available and necessary to support some clients. Troves of historical data were available on trip times, pickup and destination locations, and even rider characteristics such as gender and mobility needs (ex. wheelchair rider) , but for the most part, because it remained stuck in the Routematch system, the data was not being actively utilized.

Improving the Paratransit system through city-startup partnerships

Alexandria wanted to use the insights generated by Stae’s analysis to inform an upcoming procurement, which set aggressive deadlines for completing the data integration and analytics work. Stae was able to work within this short timeline, providing a blend of consulting services and an easy-to-use interactive report to the City, with time to spare for questions and feedback that improved the overall results.

Stae helped the city identify some of the ways that Alexandria could rethink their data collection and analysis as they holistically revamp the paratransit program. New data requirements will be included in a forthcoming RFP the city hopes to publish for a new paratransit program operator.

In particular, the City hopes to set itself up for easier and more dynamic analytics in the future by requiring standardized, easily readable data in exportable or API format describing the paratransit program’s daily operations.

Through this program facilitated by CivStart, Alexandria gained useful insights to support improving its paratransit system and informing the development of a future procurement. Stae was able to gain valuable experience through this partnership as well, enhancing their ability to work with challenging spatial data and quickly providing valuable analytics services to the City by leveraging the existing Stae Platform.